Indiana: Governor Pence Signs Pro-Hunting and School Security Bills into Law

[IN50]

Lastmonth, the Indiana General Assembly adjourned after passing two bills ofimportance to gun owners and sportsmen. The following bills were recentlysigned into law by Governor Mike Pence (R):

• Senate Bill 1, now Public Law 172, specifies how a School Resource Officer (SRO) program may be established in schools and sets forth their duties and responsibilities. This law has already taken effect and provides schools an effective asset in protecting our children and increasing school security.
• House Bill 1563, now Public Law 289, repeals Indiana’s current prohibition on the use of a suppressor while hunting and also strengthens Indiana’s shooting range protection law. Effective on July 1, this law now provides hunters in Indiana the same opportunities available to sportsmen in more than half of the country. For more information on hunting with suppressors, please click here.

Unfortunately, a critical pro-gun reform, House Bill 1473, was not taken up by the state legislature thissession. Sponsored by state Representative Jim Lucas (R-69), HB 1473 would haveallowed a person who legally possesses a firearm to keep that firearm stored ina locked trunk of their vehicle, a glove box or stored out of plain sight inthe vehicle while on school property. This would allow parents to park onschool property for a meeting with a teacher or principal to do so without thefear of breaking the law. The NRA is committed to passing this measure nextlegislative session.

 

[John Galt]

 

[j706]

Good deal. FWIW we have some switch blades that have been confiscated over the years from things like OWI arrests and such. I think on July 2nd we will be giving them back to the original owners.

 

[netsecurity]

I am not seeing the excitement I would expect. Suppressors are now LEGAL to use for hunting in Indiana. This is HUGE news isn't it? Now we just need to focus on legalizing rifles for deer hunting .

 

[Bapak2ja]

Meh, no big deal to the non-hunter.

Wish that bill for locking the gun in the car on school property would have passed. That has far more ramifications for Indiana residents than the suppressor bill.

Anyway, congrats to the hunters. Enjoy the quiet.

 

[LordTio3]

Yup, The laws are still convoluted enough that I can use a suppressed Armalite AR-10 .308 battle rifle to hunt fox squirrels, but I can't hunt deer with a 30-30 lever gun.

Why did we ever let people who don't know a thing about hunting to draft laws about it?

~LT

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

Good deal. FWIW we have some switch blades that have been confiscated over the years from things like OWI arrests and such. I think on July 2nd we will be giving them back to the original owners.

Not so fast Hoss... It looks like they repealed the auto-knife law...

SECTION 21. IC 35-47-5-2 IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2013]: Sec. 2. It is a Class B misdemeanor for a person to manufacture, possess, display, offer, sell, lend, give away, or purchase any knife with a detachable blade that
(1) opens automatically; or< LINE THRU
(2) may be propelled ejected from the handle as a projectile
by hand pressure applied to a button, device containing means of gas, a spring, or any other device contained in the handle of the knife.

http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/.../HE1563.1.html

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I am not seeing the excitement I would expect.

Likely because we are getting our excitement on the other threads?

 

[kludge]

http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/.../HE1563.1.html

Wow, what's up with this????

SECTION 2. IC 14-15-3-23 IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2013]: Sec. 23. A person may not operate [STRIKE]a boat that is loaded with passengers or cargo beyond the boat's safe carrying capacity,[/STRIKE] or permit operation of a watercraft if a reasonably prudent person would believe the total load aboard or the total horsepower of any motor or engine of the watercraft presents a risk of physical harm to persons or property, having due regard for the following:

DNR can now issue a ticket to whomever they want and claim the operator is not reasonably prudent (and by extension the CO is) even if the operator is not exceeding the marked limits???

 

[eldirector]

Wow, what's up with this????



DNR can now issue a ticket to whomever they want and claim the operator is not reasonably prudent (and by extension the CO is) even if the operator is not exceeding the marked limits???

Its the "fat folks can't kayak" law.

Even as a "non-hunter" (so far), I'm still excited by the suppressor law. It was absurd that safety devices were previously illegal.

Public Law 172 also cleans up the "rolling school zone" issue, and defines who exactly gave give authorization to carry on school property.

Are they perfect laws? Nope. But, they are moving in the right direction.

 

[CathyInBlue]

I just realized a loophole in IC 35-47-5-2. If I build the gas piston or spring into the blade of the knife, such that it stays with the blade when it ejects, and not in the handle, I can still have a knife which ejects its blade at the press of a button.

 

[sharkey]

Good deal. FWIW we have some switch blades that have been confiscated over the years from things like OWI arrests and such. I think on July 2nd we will be giving them back to the original owners.

I thought that was still in committee?

Indiana General Assembly

 

[rockhopper46038]

Glad it has been signed into law. While exterminating vermin on my property while using a suppressor may not have been illegal previously, the new wording (in my opinion) makes it clearly legal to do so. As for the auto knife provision, the more freedom the better, I say; even though the "assisted opening" designs that are widely available can be manipulated so quickly as to almost make the difference a moot point.

 

[Bill of Rights]

I thought that was still in committee?

Indiana General Assembly

SB 181 died in committee; the session is adjourned, however, the language contained in it was added to HEA 1563, which was signed into law last week and becomes effective July 1, 2013, decriminalizing switchblades and also decriminalizing the use of a lawfully possessed suppressor while hunting.

I've been trying to get organized a regular mailing to our state legislators to initially thank them for passing this and SEA 1 (which removes the "roaming school GFZ and specifies that it is the school board, a defined body, rather than the nebulous phrasing of permission granted by "a school") into law and also to prime them to know going into the next session, in January 2014, fully aware that their constituents DO want repeal of the laws in place that provide no safety for anyone and only serve to turn those peaceable citizens who mean no harm to anyone who intends no harm to them, into criminals in the eyes of the law.

Some of the ideas I'm considering as good would include the removal of the requirement of a LTCH to carry anywhere in the state not restricted under federal law, the ending of the state laws in re: "chinese throwing stars" and "sawed off shotguns", the latter being lawful if possessed with the requisite tax stamp, and the LTCH being optionally available to those who live in other states for reciprocity's sake, much as Utah, Florida, and Arizona currently issue.

Our legislators need to hear from us, not only during the session, when everyone and their brother is writing to them, but in between sessions as well, when they may actually be reading the mail themselves.

While this effort is intended to be focused on our State legislators, there is nothing wrong with writing to your federal legislators as well.

My thinking was that a letter a month, minimum, would be good. A letter every two weeks would be better, but to be effective, the letters need to be polite and civil. I'm personally avoiding mentions of voting someone out of office, but of greatest importance is actually writing the letters. An inbox full of emails on a regular basis on a single topic is awfully hard to ignore. A desk covered in "snail mailed" letters is even more difficult to dismiss; when you "trash" those, you can never forget them completely.

Join in the writing, won't you?

Blessings,
Bill

 

[sharkey]

SB 181 died in committee; the session is adjourned, however, the language contained in it was added to HEA 1563, which was signed into law last week and becomes effective July 1, 2013, decriminalizing switchblades and also decriminalizing the use of a lawfully possessed suppressor while hunting.

Thank you, I missed that line. (Was scanning for "switch")